God is not fair with us.
ENTRANCE INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HOW HARD – OR HOW LONG – YOU WORK!
Quite frankly, and quite openly, this story puts us squarely at odds with the rest of the world around us.
It is possible, and quite likely, to live your entire life and never grasp the truth about this story.
But, it is a key to the kingdom of God –
the kin-dom of God.
It is what separates us from the others.
Matthew 20:1-16
We’ve all heard it before, haven’t we?
It's not fair!
And, we know what’s fair, don’t we?
· She got more candy than I did!
· His piece of cake is bigger than mine!
· She got more presents than I got!
· My friends get to go to the dance and I have to baby-sit!
It's not fair!
Sound’s familiar, doesn’t it?
Our kids are usually real quick to notice fairness, aren’t they?
(especially when they think they are the ones being unfaired against, right?)
They are quick to react when someone else is being treated better, aren’t they?
Where do you suppose they got that notion that things should be fair?
· I've been with the company 20 years. I have all the experience, and then the boss's nephew gets the promotion.
· We both put in 8 hours, but when we get home, I still have to get supper ready and do the laundry while you sit around and watch TV!
· It's been beautiful all week, and then on Saturday, my only chance to play golf, it rains!
· Every year my raise gets eaten up by inflation. I'll never get ahead.
· We both come from the same family, but she ends up with a double portion of the inheritance.
The truth of the matter is, our kids get their notions of what’s fair – and what’s not from us.
All they have to do is listen to us.
The agents for professional sports people have this down to a “T”, don’t they?
My client should be paid as much or more than other players of his position and experience.
Actually, experience doesn’t have much to with it as fresh players learn to hold out signing a contract until they are paid more than anyone else.
And, our kids learn it.
And, now there's this story that’s sure to offend everyone – from starchy uptights to t-shirters.
Any United Statesian who loves the democratic way of life, like most of us when we hear this story, likely wants to cry out, "HEY THAT'S NOT FAIR."
Indeed, this story is perceived by most people as one of the most difficult things to hear from Jesus.
It is an important story, because Matthew identifies it as one of the keys of the kingdom.
For most of us, it is even more difficult to hear than last week’s story about forgiveness being one of the keys of the kingdom.
In the parable that Jesus told about the workers in the vineyard, we have no trouble identifying with the laborers who worked all day, right?
Here they were, at the crack of dawn, in the hiring hall ready to go.
The farmer needs to get the grapes in, so he promises them a good day's pay.
They put in a full 12 hours, and work through the heat of the day.
By then they are hungry, they’re tired, they’re sore. But they expect to be well rewarded.
Others had slept in, maybe fighting a hangover, maybe just plain lazy.
They, didn't even bother to show up till later in the morning or even not until the middle of the afternoon.
But, the owner needs workers.
The grapes are ripe.
He needs everyone he can get.
So even the late-comers are hired.
Finally it's 6:00, the day is over, the work is done. The workers line up,
the last hired are the first to be paid.
They get an envelope and inside are fifteen $10 bills.
They can't believe it.
$150 for an hours work!
They were ecstatic.
Those where hired at 3:00 - found in their envelopes $150! What good fortune!
As the line shortens, those hired in the morning are anticipating a big bonus, right?
If he pays $150 bucks to those losers he picked up in the afternoon, just think what we're gonna get!
But each one receives the same, fifteen $10 bills. Better than average pay for a day laborer, no doubt about it, but. but. it's not fair!
We worked all day! It's not fair!
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So, there's this a psychotherapis, Albert Ellis, who has a theory that all kinds of mental illness and a lot of the conflict and turmoil that develops in our relationships can often be traced back to the things we tell our selves.
The things we accept as true without ever really looking at them from the perspective of reality.
But we continue to tell ourselves these stupid things, and then get all bent out of shape when things don't happen the way we think they should.
Dr. Ellis, after spending countless hours in psychotherapy with hundreds of clients, and listening to all the problems that people have,
says there are three basic stupid things people tell them selves that end up causing all kinds of problems in life.
They are:
● Everybody should like me.
● People should be different (people should behave the way I thing they should.)
● The world should be fair.
And, the doctor says,
If you accept those statements as true,
[as] the guiding principles of your life,
you're in for a lot of hurt,
[you're in for] a lot of disappointment,
[you're in for] a lot of frustration.
All we have to do is think a little, and we soon realize that not everyone is going to like me, and that's OK.
There are some people I don't like.
Why should I expect everyone to like me?
And, people are going to be who they are, and I cannot change them.
So why should I get all upset when people don't act the way I think they should.
Do I always do what others tell me to do?
And finally, anyone who has lived any number of years knows that the world is not fair.
Never has been, never will be.
Things happen all the time that are just not fair. That's life, and complaining about it will not
change it.
The fact is that I am not God, and no matter how much I wish things were different, they are how they are.
The serenity prayer of Alcoholics Anonymous is especially appropriate as we deal with the things in life that upset us:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
To live that prayer is a big step toward mental health.
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The second thing I would like to point out about this notion of fairness is that the only time we get upset about it is when we think we are the ones being treated unfairly, right?!
· If I get a bigger dish of ice cream than she did.
· If I got the promotion and he didn't.
· If it rained all week but cleared up just in time for the game on Saturday.
Do I complain how unfair it is?
Isn't it strange that when bad luck comes my way, it's unfair,
But when good fortune comes my way, it's because I deserve it, right?!
I earned it!
When you think of the story Jesus told, can you imagine those workers hired at 3:00 or 5:00 in the afternoon telling the owner that he is really being
unfair.
He shouldn't do this.
It's not fair to the others.
Hundreds and hundreds of blessings come our way each and every day.
· Every breath I take.
· Every beat of my heart.
· Every loved one that's a part of my life.
· Every day I live in this country.
· Every prayer I pray knowing that God hears.
Yet how often do I give God a second thought,
how often do I thank God from the depths of my heart?
And then one thing goes wrong, some illness or tragedy, and here we go accusing God:
"What did I do to deserve this?
Why are you doing this to me?
It's not fair!"
The point is, fair and unfair are relative terms, aren’t they?
It all depends on which side we're on.
And we need to be careful before we start crying "Unfair! Unfair!"
I love what the farmer said to those grumbling workers: "Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?
Or are you envious, are you angry, because I am generous?'
------------------------
Finally, then, you know this is where we truly get to the heart of this parable, what this story is all about:
Jesus is telling us in this story that God does NOT treat us fairly.
We have to assume that the farmer represents God.
And what Jesus shows us here is that God does not treat us fairly.
God does not give us what we deserve.
And for that we can thank God from the bottom of our hearts, don’t you think?
Because if God treated us fairly and justly, then we would all be condemned, wouldn’t we?
We wouldn't have a hope in the world.
Who of us is perfect and deserves to stand before God on our own merits, on our own worthiness?
Not a single one of us.
Yes, we praise and thank God that we are not treated fairly. That God does not give us what we deserve.
Instead, as our people of our faith have taught throughout twenty centuries,
God treats us graciously, compassionately, mercifully, generously.
The parable that Jesus told is about the love and grace of God.
God is not fair with us.
God is generous toward us.
That's the point!
Because, really, we are not the ones who worked all day.
No, we're the ones who came on at about 5:00.
As soon as we start thinking the God owes us something, we're in deep trouble.
As soon as I start tallying up
· all the times I've been to church
· all the prayers I've said,
· all the time and money I've given,
· all the good deeds I've done.
And then expect God to reward me because I deserve it.
Then I've missed the point.
I've missed what it’s all about.
I've missed the grace of God.
The definition of grace is that God loves and forgives us even though we do not earn it,
even though we do not deserve it,
even though we can never pay for it,
even though we never merit it.
It is a gift, pure and simple.
-------------------
It's not fair!
It's not fair!
We hear it, we say it.
And it's true.
There is so much unfairness all around us and sometimes it hits home.
One of the biggest challenges we face as individuals, as a society, as a nation is to work for a more just and fair and equitable world.
And in the meantime, there will be times when we are the victims of that unfairness.
And there will be even more times when we receive gifts and blessings and mercy that we do not deserve.
But most importantly, remember:
· God is not fair with us.
· God gives us just the opposite of what we really deserve.
· God gives love, forgiveness, grace, generosity, and unconditional acceptance to each of us through this Jesus whom we call Christ.
JESUS IS SAYING TO US THAT ENTRANCE INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HOW HARD – OR HOW LONG – YOU WORK!
That's such a difficult concept for many of us to accept, isnt it?
We were taught that if we work hard we will get ahead.
If we work hard, our parents will be proud of us.
If we work hard, we will be good citizens,
good role models, – even good Christians.
And all of that is true, but our sacred writings proclaim that none of your good work will gain you entrance into the Kingdom of God.
And here we hear that you can't build up brownie points with God.
You mean, "All those years teaching that Sunday School class.
All those years tithing.
All those years sitting in those Board meetings.
And they haven't earned me a thing."
And that's true.
Hear the word of the Lord: if you were doing those things with the intent of buying off God, your efforts have been wasted.
Quite frankly, and quite openly, this story puts us squarely at odds with the rest of the world around us.
It is possible, and quite likely, to live your entire life and never grasp the truth about this story.
But, it is a key to the kingdom of God –
the kin-dom of God.
It is what separates us from the others.
C.S.Lewis, writes that “Christianity's unique contribution among [all] world religions is this notion that there is nothing we can do to make God love us more. . .
and [conversely] there is nothing we can do to make God love us less,'
There is a story found among many Native Americans:
that all people are born with two wolves inside of them.
One wolf is aggressive and likes to do harm,
while the other wolf is not aggressive and likes to spread love and compassion.
And these wolves are always fighting with each other inside of us.
And, ultimately, one always wins.
And which wolf wins out in your life,
depends upon which wolf you feed.
One of the most unfair events recorded in the Bible happened on Good Friday.
Besides Jesus being crucified, there was that thief on the cross next to him.
He was getting exactly what he deserved.
But he had the audacity to ask, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
Talk about being hired at 5:00 in the afternoon!
This is more like 5:59!
And how does Jesus respond?
"Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise!"
· remember the thief on the cross,
· remember the workers hired late in the day,
· and thank God for God's love and grace that we celebrate today.
Thank God there is nothing fair about it.
Let’s all remember to feed the right wolf.
Amen
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The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, heard this sermon during a worship service September 22, 2013.
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